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Saturday, 6 October 2012

How to Photograph Handmade Jewellery - part 1

One of the biggest challenges involved in selling handmade goods online,
especially for designer/makers, is photography. If a craftsperson cannot afford
to employ a professional photographer (which is likely) and cannot find a
photographer prepared to swap services (not impossible but certainly tricky),
then they have to fall on their own resources and take their own photographs.

Like becoming skilful in a particular craft in the first place, gaining an
understanding of photography can be a steep learning curve. Most people can use
a point and click digital camera and take a decent photograph, but to take a
detailed and quality image can be far harder. However, digital photography is
the lifesaver here as you can take as many photos as you need until you have a collection
that is good enough to publish. And a plethora of photo editing suites exist to
refine and improve images.

It’s worth saying that I’m no photography expert but I do have a little
experience, having taken shots of my own work for several years now, and (owing
to a rather handy photography course I took a couple of years back) I do have a
little insider knowledge when it comes to knowing my way around a camera.
Having said that, while I’ve been reviewing some of my old photos as I’ve
written these blog posts, it’s struck me how much I still have to learn, and
that I need to apply what I do already know more keenly to my photographs.
Hopefully the fruits of my labour will become evident in my next set of images.

Photographing Handmade Jewellery

First up, the importance of photos when selling online; the value of macro
and close ups, along with that of the big picture; and how understanding
jewellery will improve the photos you take.

Unlike in conventional shops, someone viewing your jewellery on the internet
can’t examine how it looks from different angles, can’t pick it up and feel its
weight, and can’t hold it up to themselves and see their reflection in a mirror.
They’re dependent on the information you provide them with to make a decision whether
or not to part with their money. The more information you offer the better, and
providing that information in the form of good quality photographs is a
wonderful form of shorthand that can convey the essence and quality of your
work far more quickly than a wordy description can. Photographs, especially
good quality ones, cut to the chase.

All you really need to take good
jewellery photographs is...

A camera with a macro button. Don’t become overwhelmed by the vast choice of
cameras. Yes, a shiny new, top-of-the-range camera would be wonderful, thank
you very much, but most modern digital cameras should possess the one essential
you need to take decent quality jewellery photographs - a macro button. The
button normally has a small flower icon on it, and when you press it the camera
focuses far closer than it does for the average family or landscape shot. This
means you can take sharp images of the detail on your jewellery.

My rather old and not-very-expensive (okay, cheap) camera has a neat trick
which means if you press the macro button twice you get to super-macro, which
focuses even closer and allows an extreme close-up image. Check your camera,
and instruction booklet if you have one (it may well be in PDF form, or even
only available online), to see if you have super-macro. If you do have it, you
won’t regret searching it out, as it’s a super-handy facility.

Photo of rings taken on a macro setting

The same rings, photographed on super-macro

The big picture

Whilst macro close-ups are invaluable for displaying detail in jewellery it
is also important that you pull back in some shots, to allow your item of jewellery
to be fully shown. Provide a variety of images to give the viewer as much
information and detail as possible. I aim to include one or two overall images
of each piece along with several close-ups on macro and super-macro, using
different angles to add interest and hopefully show the jewellery in interesting
ways.

A picture of the whole piece of jewellery...

...a close-up of the same item of jewellery

Variety is the spice of life - angles
and approaches

Jewellery is three dimensional but photographs aren’t. With careful use of
angles and perspective however, you will be able to make your photos dynamic
and give your jewellery a real feeling of movement and vigour. Experiment with
taking photos from overheard, or low-down, close to the jewellery and from
further away, as well as from the side and straight on. I’ve found moving the camera around to more extreme angles can increase
how striking the jewellery looks, which can attract the eye of the casual
browser. Using such images in amongst more traditional shots allows your
jewellery to be seen clearly but also to create interest and excitement.

Hopefully still recognisable as a bangle...

In the next post on this topic I'll cover lighting and how it can be the most important element in your photo, alongside the jewellery.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave any comments, queries, or corrections on what I've written - I'd love to also increase my own knowledge into this fascinating and wide-reaching topic.

Very interesting and informative - and great shots. You are right about the macro - it's the reason why I've stuck with my 10 year old point and shoot, but didn't know about the double macro, so will check that one out. Thanks!!